1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for stimulating the nervous system. More particularly, the invention concerns a method and apparatus for neurostimulation that assists in the relief of pain and drug addiction withdrawal symptoms during detoxification.
2. Discussion of the Invention
A growing problem in the United States and in many parts of the world is drug and alcohol addiction. Solutions to this widespread problem are desperately needed. A major element of any such solution is a meaningful method of effectively detoxifying the addict to expedite a return to a productive life.
The most commonly used detoxification method at the present time involves the use of methadone. Methadone acts as a drug substitute during the treatment period and helps to assist the patient through the withdrawal state which in many cases is extremely traumatic. The biochemical basis of addiction is believed to involve the body's natural pain killers which are secreted by the brain into the nervous system. These pain killers are generally referred to as endorphins and enkephalins and are believed to be involved in all addictive behaviors including alcoholism, smoking and compulsive overeating. More particularly, endorphins are proteins having potent analgesic properties that naturally occur in the brain. Enkephalins, on the other hand, are pentapeptides with opiate and analgesic activity that occur naturally in the brain. The acute withdrawal symptoms of the addict is believed directly associated with low levels of endorphins within the body and altered ratios of different kinds of endorphins and enkephalins within the body which has been caused by previous involvement with drugs of addiction. The ingestion of methadone into the body acts as a drug substitute and tends to alleviate the acute withdrawal symptoms experienced by the addict. A major problem with methadone treatment, of course, is that eventually the patient must also be weaned from the methadone, which itself results in serious withdrawal symptoms.
It is generally accepted that the most acute withdrawal symptoms are associated with the somatosensing nervous system. This system senses pain and the general well being of the body. Withdrawal symptoms associated with the somatosensing nervous system include muscle cramps and severe pain in the body joints.
A major thrust of the present invention is to provide treatment that effectively helps alleviate the patient's withdrawal symptoms, including those associated with the somatosensory nervous system. This is achieved through neurowave therapy and is accomplished by connecting small probes to the patient at strategic locations for the delivering of a preprogrammed sequence of electrical pulses over an extended period of time.
In the past, a number of crude electrical devices have been developed and marketed as electronic acupuncture devices. For the most part, these device have little medical value and merely deliver some type of arbitrary electrical pulse to the patient at selected "acupuncture points". A much more sophisticated device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,048 issued to Eckerson. However, the Eckerson device, unlike that of the present invention, delivers to the patient a train of electrical pulses comprised of square waves and spikes of specifically defined pulse width and amplitude. More particularly, the Eckerson device applies a train of electrical pulses that consist of individual pulses having an amplitude of 20 volts and a pulse width of one millisecond, followed immediately by a voltage spike of opposite polarity with an amplitude of 70 volts.
As will become more apparent from the discussion which follows, the method and apparatus of the present invention is significantly different in many respects from that of Eckerson. By way of example, the device of the present invention does not apply electrical pulses that include spikes and the wave form uniquely maintains a constant current instead of a specific voltage. Additionally, unlike the Eckerson device, the device of the present invention does not permit the user to vary the frequency of the pulses but, rather, advantageously employs a microprocessor based circuit for precise sequencing and wave form generation.